Fort Worth Design Awards

Recipients of the 2012 AIA Fort Worth Design Awards were announced in January. Six firm projects and five student works were singled out for excellence in design as part of the chapter’s Honors and Awards Program.

Firm Awards

Ben Hogan Learning Center for the First Tee of Fort WorthDMS Architects
Borrowing its formal expression and transparent center from the honest simplicity of the dogtrot house, the Ben Hogan Learning Center transforms the traditional language by bending around a state-protected tree while extending to connect with an outdoor practice space. The building was designed to serve multiple functions — classroom, community event center, museum — and maximize the limited resources of First Tee, a nonprofit that uses golf to teach life lessons to at-risk youths.

i-Prospect Fort Worth OfficeVLK Architects
The new i-Prospect office intertwines historical elements of Fort Worth with the digital communications company’s high-tech industry. The rehabilitated, one-story warehouse features an open layout, giant kitchen, and large, adjacent common area to encourage team building, as well as a range of sustainable elements: the architects salvaged existing walls for partitions, used reclaimed wood for sliding barn doors, and developed accent walls from milled fallen trees.

Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts at Founders PlazaBennett Benner Pettit Architects + Planners
Located in Downtown Arlington, Levitt Pavilion is part of a larger downtown revitalization effort. Sited at the southeast corner of the Plaza, the performance space is aligned to avoid acoustical conflicts with the nearby City Hall, and its platform is oriented so that the audience faces away from the sun. Large overhangs offer additional shading while the inverted roof shape allows for collection of rainwater to irrigate native plantings. Gates from an earlier structure were restored.

St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church RestorationArthur Weinman Architects
Completed in 1918, this Lindsay church was in dire need of restoration. The architects identified a range of problems, including leaking roof, delaminating plaster, deteriorated stained glass, damaged artwork, and more. They engaged skilled craftsmen — specialty roofers and art and stained glass window conservators — to help restore the building.

Shoe SpineBart Shaw Architect
Shoe Spine is a conceptual design that seeks to present a way to honor the shoes that have long been relegated to rolling around on the closet floor. Although it’s a simple “shove and go” concept, it holds the shoe in way that presents its beauty.

TetheringBart Shaw and Norman Ward
Tethering is a contemporary interpretation of a traditional Jewish sukkah — a temporary structure commemorating the dwellings of the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt. The design of the sukkah should draw your eyes up to the roof and sky. Perforations in Tethering’s wall allow light to filter inside, and its elliptical form allows daylight to travel around the interior surface, giving an awareness of time.